Presidential Updateshttps://blogs.missouristate.edu/president
Tue, 10 Oct 2017 14:42:26 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2113024699Clif’s Notes Oct. 10, 2017https://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/10/10/clifs-notes-oct-10-2017/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Tue, 10 Oct 2017 13:00:01 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5811The Missouri State Way and United Way Campaigns have kicked off and will continue through Nov. 8. Missouri State University faculty and staff make an incredible difference on our campus and in our community by participating in these campaigns.

Campaign packets have been distributed in campus mail. You can also find information about the campaigns on the Missouri State Way and United Way webpage. Please join me in completing and submitting the contribution forms to participate in these campaigns.

After you complete your forms, please plan to attend the free Celebration Luncheon at noon on Nov. 8 in the PSU Ballroom. I look forward to seeing you there!

Open enrollment time

Our open enrollment period for employee benefits began last week. All benefit-eligible employees are encouraged to go through the open enrollment process to elect, decline, make changes and review the benefits that we offer at Missouri State. You might be surprised by what we offer for you and your dependents:

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Cafeteria plan

Supplemental life insurance

Group universal life insurance

Critical illness insurance

Accident insurance

Basic life, accidental death and dismemberment, and long-term disability are 100 percent paid for by the university.

It’s important to take action now – the deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 1. Once elections or changes have been made, no changes can be made during the year unless they are due to a qualifying event (e.g. marriage, divorce, birth, etc.).

We encourage you to go through the enrollment process even if you plan to keep what you currently have. Not taking any action could result in the possibility of you having the incorrect benefits and deductions.

]]>5811Clif’s Notes for Oct. 3, 2017https://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/10/03/clifs-notes-oct-3-2017/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Tue, 03 Oct 2017 13:00:03 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5805Recently we had a phishing email scam reach over 2,000 email accounts at Missouri State. I was one of the 2,000 employees that received this email. If you were one of these 2,000 people, you also received an email notifying you of the scam and telling you what to do if you clicked on the link in the email.

Six people clicked on the link in the email and typed in their university BearPass ID and password (which is a really big mistake). Hackers stole those passwords and changed direct deposit information in an attempt to steal these employees’ September paychecks.

Fortunately, our hardworking cybersecurity and financial services teams at Missouri State quickly identified the situation and worked with the affected individuals to reverse the direct deposit changes. However, this should be a lesson to everyone at Missouri State that hackers are aggressively trying to take your money and personal information, and cybersecurity is more important than ever.

Beware of cybercriminals

While this attack received publicity throughout campus, hundreds of similar attacks target our university networks and information systems each month. The great majority of these attacks are detected and averted by our cybersecurity team without anyone falling victim to them or even knowing they occurred. However, as we learned recently, it is inevitable that some of these threats will make it through to end users like you and me.

Our information security office personnel work hard to keep university data secure, but all of us who use computers are the first line of defense. We must always be cautious and aware when following links, downloading files and opening attachments.

Tips to keep you safe

There are actions you can take to help:

Be suspicious of email. Cybercriminals often attempt to make email appear to be from someone it’s not. Look carefully at the “From” address in emails you receive. Cybercriminals may use domain names similar, but not identical, to Missouri State’s, like missouristateedu.com.

Avoid clicking on links in email. Because emails can contain deceptively labeled links, it is best to avoid clicking on links in email entirely. If you do click on a link, hover your mouse over it before clicking to reveal the website address it will send you to. If the website address does not match the description, report the email to the information security office.

Know where your reply is going. If you reply to an email, check that the “To” address in your reply is what you expected. One tactic used by cybercriminals is setting a “Reply-to” address that is different than the “From” address.

For best practices on keeping our information safe and secure, I recommend viewing the information security awareness training video developed by the information security office. In light of a recent increase in the number and sophistication of attacks throughout the globe, we will be increasing our efforts to train groups of employees unit-by-unit throughout the university. If you hear that your unit will be participating in group cybersecurity training, I recommend that you participate to learn how you can keep your personal information and assets safe from cybercriminals.

If you receive anything suspicious, or if you have any questions or concerns related to information security, please contact the information security office at 417-836-5226.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

]]>5805Clif’s Notes for Sept. 26, 2017https://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/09/26/clifs-notes-sept-26-2017/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:00:34 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5787Last week we issued our official enrollment report. I am pleased to report that Missouri State University set another enrollment record with 26,216 students throughout the system for fall 2017.

The Springfield campus also set another record with 24,350 students, up 234 from last fall. Over the past decade enrollment on the Springfield campus has grown by more than 22 percent.

Our growth in domestic student enrollment was offset by a decrease of 212 (14 percent) in international students. I will be meeting with our international programs team in the coming weeks and months to develop strategies to mitigate these decreases in future years.

Our freshman class (i.e., “first-time new-in-college”) includes 3,184 students, an increase of 1.9 percent over last fall. A total of 2,750 of these students are from Missouri. Mizzou had only four more first-time new-in-college students from Missouri than we did as this gap continues to close.

Additionally, 1,264 transfer students are from Missouri. A total of 4,014 new degree-seeking undergraduates are from Missouri.

Other highlights include:

Graduate student enrollment increased by 128 to 3,505

Enrollment of students from underrepresented groups increased 181 to 3,159

Our student body includes students from all counties in Missouri, every state in the United States, and 88 countries throughout the world

West Plains sees small decrease

On the West Plains campus, the census day figures show 1,930 students are taking classes compared to 1,951 students last fall.

Keeping our campus safe

Last week the U.S. Department of Education rescinded some of the guidance previously provided on sexual misconduct under Title IX and issued new interim guidance. We have analyzed that guidance and determined that it does not require any immediate changes to our policies and procedures. We will continue to monitor this situation as legal changes unfold, and we will engage as appropriate in the Department of Education rulemaking process.

Keeping students safe is critically important to me, the Board of Governors and our administrative leadership at Missouri State. We will continue to work diligently to prevent sexual assault and other forms of violence on campus.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

]]>5787Clif’s Notes for Sept. 19, 2017https://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/09/19/clifs-notes-sept-19-2017/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Tue, 19 Sep 2017 13:00:17 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5774Dr. Frank Einhellig and I will give the State of the University Address at 12:15 p.m. Sept. 25 in the PSU Theater. This year’s address will:

Highlight the university’s accomplishments from the past year

Provide an update on the university’s progress on critical benchmarks

Discuss our plans for the coming year, including our plans to develop a sustainable financial model in an era of declining appropriations from the state

I hope you will plan to attend the address. If you cannot attend, please consider participating remotely with YouTube livestream. You can also hear the presentation at 7 p.m. Sept. 25 on KSMU or you can see the presentation at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 on Ozarks Public Television. Additional information can be found on the State of the University Address webpage.

Developing a plan

Earlier this year, the Coordinating Board for Higher Education announced its intention to develop a new performance funding model. The Missouri Department of Higher Education established a task force to advise the coordinating board on the new model. I was appointed to this task force.

Over the past several months I have worked with the governor’s office, legislative staff and MDHE to develop task force recommendations.

The coordinating board will approve the new performance funding model at its December meeting. Several items in the new model have yet to be finalized, but other items have been settled.

As with the prior model, the new model will impact the state’s apportionment of new appropriations for public universities. We anticipate that policymakers will also use the new model to make other funding and policy decisions in the coming months and years.

The new model

The new model will include six metrics organized under three headings.

The first heading is “Student Success and Progress.” Two metrics will fall under this heading. Those metrics have been settled upon and I do not anticipate further revisions. They are:

Degree, certificate and other credential completions per full-time equivalent student.

Percent of students meeting or exceeding an established threshold for general education assessment; major field assessment; or professional/occupational licensure exams.

The second heading is “Efficiency and Affordability.” Two efficiency metrics and one affordability metric will fall under this heading. One efficiency metric and the affordability metric are still under discussion. However, the other efficiency metric will be a continuation of our existing efficiency metric — core expenditures as a percentage of total expenditures.

The final heading is “Graduate Outcomes” and one metric will fall under that heading. That metric will be successful graduate outcomes within six months of graduation as determined by the NACE Final Destination Survey. Specific parameters and thresholds for this metric remain under discussion.

All measures will be used by all institutions, and we will no longer be allowed to select our metrics. Some measures will be weighted to increase institutions’ focus on STEM programs, health care programs and Pell-eligible students.

Significant change

One significant change under the new model will be to replace the six-year graduation rate metric with degree, certificate or other credential completions per full-time equivalent student. This new measure accounts for all students (including transfers, part-time students, etc.), not just first time, full-time freshmen.

It also includes all completions, not just traditional undergraduate and graduate degrees. This underscores the importance of our action items this year to unbundle academic programs, develop micro-credentials, and create boot camps and non-degree training programs.

It will be more challenging to meet the metrics under the new model than it was under the old model. However, I believe the new model offers Missouri State an opportunity to further establish itself as a leader in higher education in the state.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

]]>5774Clif’s Notes for Sept. 12, 2017https://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/09/12/clifs-notes-sept-12-2017/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 13:00:33 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5766As you know, this week is Public Affairs Week (“PAW”). If you missed last night’s keynote presentation by Eboo Patel, you have a second chance to hear him present on a different topic — Our Common Life: Sustainability through Interfaith Connections — at 11 a.m. today in the PSU Theater. There are also many other PAW events remaining this week. Check out the schedule for details.

Though PAW activities wind down at the end of the week, we have an action-packed weekend to look forward to on campus.

Family Weekend begins on Friday and continues through the weekend. Please welcome our students’ parents and family members as they visit campus and participate in various activities throughout the weekend. Details about particular Family Weekend activities can be found on the full schedule.

Cheer for the Bears

We also have an array of athletic events this weekend.

Missouri State Volleyball will play their first home matches in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in Hammons Student Center starting on Thursday and continuing through Saturday. The Bears will play at 7 p.m. on Thursday, at 6 p.m. on Friday, and at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Missouri State’s Soccer teams will also play throughout the weekend at Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium. The Women’s team will play UMKC at 7 p.m. on Friday and the University of Tulsa at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Men’s team will play Oral Robert University at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

On Saturday, the Bears Football team will play its home opener against Murray State at 2 p.m. in Plaster Stadium. Pregame tailgating and festivities in Bearfest Village will start at noon.

I hope you will join me in cheering on the Bears.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

]]>5766Supporting our DACA studentshttps://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/09/06/supporting-daca-students/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Wed, 06 Sep 2017 16:22:41 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5760Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an American immigration policy that provides a form of administrative relief from deportation. It protects eligible immigrant youth who came to the United States when they were children from deportation. It allows them the opportunity to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.

While we have fewer than ten DACA students at Missouri State University, the decision by the current administration to end the DACA Program has the potential to drastically change their lives. In the days and weeks to come, we will work with our DACA students to ensure they have all of the information they need to plan accordingly.

Our first priority for DACA students is that they feel safe, they are heard and their studies are not disrupted by external concerns. We remain committed to supporting all of our students, including our DACA students, to the extent that federal and state laws permit. Thomas Lane, our dean of students, will serve as lead contact for any Missouri State student who has questions about how the policy change affects their status.

Additionally, we will be interacting with members of our congressional delegation to urge them to pass legislation to resolve this situation. Websites containing contact information for Senators McCaskill and Blunt as well as Congressman Long are linked below if you would like to share your views with them:

]]>57602017 State of the University addresshttps://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/09/06/2017-state-university-address/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Wed, 06 Sep 2017 14:30:25 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5747Clif Smart and Frank Einhellig will present the State of the University address at 12:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, in the Plaster Student Union theater. The speech will be live streamed.

Asking questions

During the speech, President Smart and Provost Einhellig will accept questions in person and online:

Broadcast information

]]>5747Clif’s Notes for Sept. 5, 2017https://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/09/05/clifs-notes-sept-5-2017/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:00:50 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5741Last Wednesday, Dr. Drew Bennett, chancellor of the West Plains campus, announced his intention to retire at the end of the spring 2018 semester. Drew is the seventh person to lead the West Plains campus and is the second longest-serving. Drew is my friend and colleague, and I will miss his leadership in West Plains.

The West Plains campus flourished under Drew’s leadership. Highlights include:

Increased enrollment by 10 percent

Increased full-time faculty by 26 percent, including three endowed professorships

Added 10 new associate degrees

Raised more than $8.8 million in donations and more than $11 million in grant funding

The university will begin a nationwide search for a new chancellor this fall. Matt Morris, vice president for administrative services, will lead the search committee. Please send input regarding the search to president@missouristate.edu.

Please join me in congratulating Drew Bennett on a successful career. We wish him well in his retirement.

I hope you join me in putting the public affairs mission into practice by attending this year’s Public Affairs Week activities.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

]]>5741Clif’s Notes for Aug. 29, 2017https://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/08/29/clifs-notes-aug-29-2017/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Tue, 29 Aug 2017 13:00:24 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5731This is the second year of our Implementing the Vision long-range plan.

Over the summer, Administrative Council and Academic Leadership Council, in communication with the Board of Governors, developed the university-wide focus areas and action plan for the coming year. Those documents are now final and posted online.

Identifying focus areas

Last year we identified two focus areas:

Increasing the number of graduates while maintaining academic rigor and quality

Enhancing campus diversity and inclusion

This year’s focus areas continue with these two items and add “Funding” as a third focal point. This aligns with our work to develop a sustainable financial model in an era of declining state support (which I summarized in a prior note).

Highlights of the plan

Our action plan contains particular action items the university intends to work on this academic year. The action items are organized under the six areas set forth in the long-range plan. Highlights include:

Continue to grow enrollment of domestic students and sustain enrollment of international students

Evaluate opportunities to enhance campus facilities through public private partnerships

Increase compensation for faculty and staff

Working together, I believe we can make progress on these action items and continue to build on the university’s success.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

]]>5731Clif’s Notes for Aug. 22, 2017https://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/2017/08/22/clifs-notes-aug-22-2017/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 13:00:19 +0000http://blogs.missouristate.edu/president/?p=5724As you know, classes started yesterday. I am happy to report that our opening day enrollment shows an increase of 244 students over last year’s opening day enrollment number. This represents an increase of 1.2 percent.

The official census count is made after the fourth week of class, and I will update you again on the status of our enrollment at that time. I will also discuss enrollment data as part of my State of the University Address at 12:15 p.m. on Sept. 25 in the PSU Theater.

Connect with Bears at campus activities

As we start the semester, I hope you will join me in interacting with our new and returning students. We want all students to feel welcome at the university.

There are several opportunities for you to interact with students and others throughout the fall semester:

President’s Holiday Open House at 2 p.m. on Dec. 7 in the PSU Ballroom

Home football games and tailgates at Bearfest Village on Sept. 16 and 23, Oct. 21 and 28, and Nov. 11. Missouri State faculty and staff can purchase season tickets for half price. Additional information can be found on the athletics website.

Please attend some or all of these events and show your support for our students and our university.